On Sunday morning, we were witness to a magnificent spectacle in the sky, a complete lunar eclipse. What amazed me that morning was the absolute silence that was prevailing all around, even the silence of nature. The complete silence that prevailed right through the duration of the eclipse was indeed an amazing experience. I felt that it is indeed true, that we experience the glory and beauty of celestial greandeur only in moments of complete silence.
Today if you look around you find all that we have around us is noise. Its noisy in the streets, it's not easy in the restaurants, it's noisy on the television, it's noisy everywhere. Even schools today teach the young to read and recite, but never to listen, not only to listen externally but also internally. We are in times when even while working, walking, jogging, or simply sitting we have a constant companion called noise. In fact the have reached a stage where silence is scary and hence the need for noise as the constant companion.
When we are silent,the mind starts talking to us and it can be extremely difficult to listen to our own mind. Ask this question to yourself, “Will I be my best friend?". The answer in all probability will be no! That is because we are constantly self-critical. In order to escape this self-critical person in us we find various ways not to listen to the mind.
While the self critique in us can make us quite uncomfortable, it is the store house of information. It can give us an insight into how we are currently thinking and feeling. When we become aware of what our thoughts and feelings are, we can go about understanding and healing the inner critique. And one of the ways we can understand and heal the inner critique is by remaining silent by listening and experiencing every thing around us, accepting other's views, listening to others thoughts. We find difficulty in following it, because as soon as we are subjected to any feedback, our defense mechanisms built up unconsciously since childhood spring to our apparent rescue.
When we become defenseless and operate through silence, we discover a new self, a self that is happy and in sync with its surroundings. A self that has in it divinity within, and in this we find the glory and beauty of celestial greandeur.
As Rachel Naomi Remen has said: "The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words".
